Clause, phrase and sentence

The basic unit of English grammar is the clause:

[An unlucky student almost lost a 17th century violin worth almost 200,000]

[when he left it in the waiting room of a London station.]

[William Brown inherited the 1698 Stradivarius violin from his mother]

[and had just had it valued by a London dealer at 180,000.]

Clauses are made up of phrases:

[An unlucky student] + [almost lost] + [a 17th century violin worth almost
200,000]

[when] + [he] + [left] + [it] + [in the waiting room of a London station.]

[William Brown] + [inherited] + [the 1698 Stradivarius violin] + [from his

mother]

[and] [had just had it valued] + [by a London dealer] + [at 180,000.]

We can join two or more clauses together to make sentences.

An unlucky student almost lost a 17th century violin worth almost 200,000 when
he left it in the waiting room of a London station.

William Brown inherited the 1698 Stradivarius violin from his mother and had just
had it valued by a London dealer at 180,000.

All clauses in English have at least two parts: a noun phrase and a verb phrase:

Noun phrase (subject) Verb phrase

The children laughed
All the people in the bus were watching

But most clauses have more than two parts:

Noun phrase (subject) Verb phrase

The children laughed
John wanted a new bicycle
All of the girls are learning English
This soup tastes awful
Mary and the family were driving to Madrid
She put the flowers in a vase

The first noun phrase is the subject of the sentence:

 The children laughed.
John wanted a new bicycle.
All the girls are learning English.
She put the flowers in the vase.

English clauses always have a subject:

His father has just retired. Was a teacher. He was a teacher.

Im waiting for my wife. Is late. She is late.

except for the imperative which is used to give orders:

Stop!
Go away.

and for "soft imperatives" like invitations and requests:

Please come to dinner tomorrow.

Play it again please.

If we have no other subject we use "there" or "it" as subject. We call this a dummy
subject:

There were twenty people at the meeting..

There will be an eclipse of the moon tonight.

Its a lovely day.

Its nearly one oclock.
I have toothache. It hurts a lot.

VERB PATTERN

The structure of the clause depends on the verb. For example:

An intransitive verb has the structure: N(=noun) + V(=verb): (John) + (smiled).

A transitive verb has the structure: N + V + N: (We) + (had been playing) +

(football)

A link verb has the structure: N + V + Adj : (She) + (looked) + (happy)

A phrasal verb has the structure: N + V + pa(=particle) + N (She) + (gave) +(back)

+ (the money)
or N + V + N + pa (She) + (gave) + (the money) + (back)

Particles can be either adverbs or prepositions. For a more detailed explanation of

phrasal verbs, see our two- and three-part word and Multi-word verbs pages.
Intransitive verbs have the pattern N + V (noun + verb). The clause is complete
without anything else:

Noun Phrase (Subject) Verb Phrase

John smiled
Nothing happened
The baby was sleeping

(John) (smiled).
(Nothing) (has happened).
(The baby) (was sleeping).

Transitive verbs have a noun phrase as object:

Noun phrase (Subject) Verb phrase Noun phrase (Object)

John wanted a new bicycle.
We had been playing football.
Some of the children are learning English.

This pattern is N + V + N (noun + verb + noun).

Some verbs are followed by an adjective phrase. The adjective phrase is called the
complement:

Noun phrase (Subject) Verb phrase Adjective phrase (complement)

I am feeling hungry
Everyone looked very happy
This soup tastes awful
The milk has gone sour

This pattern is N + V + Adj (noun + verb + adjective phrase).

These verbs are called link verbs.

Some link verbs (for example be; become; seem) can have a noun phrase as a
complement:

Noun phrase (Subject) Verb phrase Noun phrase (complement)

Our neighbour was a strange man
He became a geologist
She seems a nice girl
This pattern is N + V + N (noun + verb + noun).
Some verbs, like give and bring can have two different patterns after them:

Noun Phrase Prepositional

Noun Phrase (Subject) Verb Phrase
(Direct object) phrase
She gave some money to the old man
They brought a lot of food for the animals
>>>> <<<<
Noun Phrase Noun Phrase
Noun Phrase (Subject) Verb Phrase
(Indirect object) (Direct object)
She gave the old man some money
They brought the animals a lot of food

These verbs are called double object verbs. When we have two noun phrases after the
verb the first noun phrase is the indirect object and the second noun phrase is the
direct object.

Some transitive verbs can have a noun phrase as an object:

Everybody likes good food.

George considered the problem.

or the ing form of the verb:

Everybody likes eating.

George considered starting again.

Note: we suggest that you read about Verbs with to + infinitive before doing this
activity.

Some verbs have the pattern N + V + to+infinitive:

They agreed to help.

We decided to go.

Some verbs have the pattern N + V + N + to+infinitive:

She told him to go home.

They advised us to wait.

Note: we suggest that you read about Verbs with -ing forms before doing this
activity.

Reporting verbs with that clauses:

Some verbs introduce a report, an idea or a summary. These verbs have the pattern:

N + V + (that) + clause

When we want to say what someone says or thinks we can use a clause with that;
 He said that I had to see a doctor.
I thought that he was being silly.

We can leave out the word that:

He said I had to see a doctor.

I thought he was being silly.

With some verbs we can mention the hearer as the object of the verb:

She reminded him that it was time to go.

He told me he was a friend of yours.

These verbs have the pattern;

N + V + N + (that) + clause.

Reporting verbs with wh- and if clauses

Some verbs introduce summaries, reports, questions or problems:

She explained what we had to do.

He asked if I was ready
I didnt know what to do.

These verbs have the pattern:

N + V + wh- + clause:
She wondered where she was.

or

N + V + if + clause:
Ken asked if we wanted to go.

With some verbs we can mention the hearer as the object of the verb:

She asked me if I was ready.

He told me what I had to do.

These verbs have the pattern:

N + V + N + wh- + clause:
I told them what he was doing.

or

N + V + N + if + clause:
Ken asked us if we wanted to go.

Two part verbs

Some verbs consist of two words a verb and a particle (p). These verbs have a
number of patterns:

Peter came in. (N + V + p)

He took out his diary. (N + V + p + N)
He gave the money back. (N + V + N + p)

Phrasal verbs

Some transitive two part verbs are phrasal verbs. They have two different patterns.

N+V+N+p

She gave the money back

He knocked the vase over
We will be leaving our friends behind

or

N+V+p+N

She gave back the money

He knocked over the vase
We will be leaving behind our friends.

When the object is a pronoun these verbs always have the first pattern N + V +N + p:

She gave it back

He knocked it over
We will be leaving them behind

Three part verbs

Some verbs are made up of three parts a verb and two particles. They have the
pattern:

N + V + p + p + N:

His girl friend walked out on him.

She soon caught up with the other runners
Children should look up to their parents.